1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a liquid crystal display panel, a method of fabricating the same and an apparatus thereof, and more particularly, to a liquid crystal display panel having a spacer selectively formed at a desired area, a method of fabricating the same, and an apparatus thereof.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
In general, a liquid crystal display (LCD) controls an amount of electric field applied to a liquid crystal material layer to thereby control light transmittance of the liquid crystal material layer for displaying an image. In particular, the LCD includes a liquid crystal display panel and a driving circuit for applying a driving signal to the liquid crystal display panel. The liquid crystal display panel includes first and second glass substrates bonded to each other with a predetermined space, and a liquid crystal material layer formed between the first and second glass substrate. The first glass substrate is commonly referred to as a thin film transistor (TFT) array substrate having a plurality of gate lines arranged along one direction at a predetermined interval from each other, a plurality of data lines arranged along a direction perpendicular to the gate lines at a predetermined interval from each other, a plurality of pixel electrodes formed in a matrix-arrangement within pixel areas defined by the gate and data lines crossing each other, and a plurality of thin film transistors switched by signals of the gate lines to transfer signals of the data lines to the pixel electrodes. An alignment film is formed on top of the TFT array substrate.
The second substrate is commonly referred to as a color filter array substrate having a black matrix layer for cutting off light from a portion except in the pixel areas, an R/G/B color filter material layer for producing colored light, and a common electrode for applying a reference voltage. An alignment film is formed on top of the color filter array substrate. In addition, spacers are used to separate the first and second substrates from each other with the predetermined space therebetween, and a sealant is used to bond the first and second substrates to each other.
FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of a spacer spray device according to related art. In FIG. 1, a spacer spray device includes a feed box 12 connected to a chamber 4 through a pipe 14. A substrate 2, which is a thin film transistor array substrate or a color filter array substrate, is mounted on a stage 6 inside the chamber 4. A number of ball spacers 10 are initially stored in the feed box 12 outside the chamber 4, then ejected from the pipe 14 into the chamber 4, and subsequently sprayed through a nozzle 8 onto the substrate 2. The nozzle 8 moves at a specific speed to spray the ball spacers 10 onto a top surface of the substrate 2. In particular, nitrogen gas is applied to the feed box 12 through a supply line (not shown), and the ball spacers 10 stored in the feed box 12 are supplied to the pipe 14 by nitrogen gas. As the ball spacers 10 move along the pipe 14, they collide with an inner wall of the pipe 14, thereby obtaining positive (+) charges by the principle of friction.
FIGS. 2 and 3 are planar views of a substrate having spacers sprayed by the spacer spray device in FIG. 1 according to the related art. In FIG. 2, positively-charged ball spacers 10 are uniformly ejected onto a substrate 2 by the spacer spray device in FIG. 1. However, if undesired electric field is applied to metal patterns of the substrate 2, the positively-charged ball spacers 10 will cluster toward portions of the substrate 2 where a negative (−) voltage is applied. In FIG. 3, an area A of the substrate 2 is applied with a negative (−) voltage, and a number of the positively-charged ball spacers 10 then are attracted toward the area A and form a cluster. The cluster of the ball spacers 10 then become visible as a stain when the substrate is assembled as a display panel.
In addition, the ball spacers according to the related art move when the substrate experiences an external impact. Such movement then damages an alignment film covering the substrate causing unevenness in the alignment film and deteriorating the brightness of the display panel.